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Jumpgate
Jumpgates The key to long distance travel within the wider galactic community, the jumpgate network is an artificially constructed array of devices that facilitate extra-dimensional travel via wormholes. Currently, over 3000 known systems have a jumpgate (or several), and more are discovered each day. The jumpgates vary greatly in design depending on the region of space they are in. In human space, for example, most gates are a set of curved metal arms that meet at each end to form an eye, with smaller metal bands floating off the main structure anchored by micro gravity wells. However, due to the size of human sovereignty, various other designs have been discovered and studied. History Long believed to have originated from a long passed advanced civilization, this was disproven by the Federate Council Science Board upon deep carbon dating analyses. In conjunction with gravitational distortions that had only recently taken their toll on the area of space-time the gates reside in, it is now believed that the jumpgates are no older than around 35,000 years. The inherent design and materials used suggests that all of the gates were created by people who lived in the Federate's region of space but have either since moved on, or faded into obscurity. It is also believed that, while the technology of the jumpgates was at first far more advanced than most local species, their inner workings have been discovered and reverse-engineered rather easily, leading some to believe that many federate species may share a common ancestor. Supporting theories agree due to the near uniformity of the bipedal form in sapients, and their rather typical biochemical makeup, leading to similar lines of evolution. The Ishtari are currently the main producers of interstellar jumpgates, accounting for 44% of all jumpgate construction. Other species are constantly discovering new ways to design and create jumpgates, and are swiftly closing the technological gap with the ishtari in this regard. Most newly constructed gates still rely on the basic reverse engineered technology, and remain the only way to transverse interstellar distances in good time. Basic Functions All jumpgates operate on a single platform - that is to say, they function identically. The only differences in operation occur when using inter-regional jumpgates, which operate on an upscaled basis. The jumpgate itself is a structure that allows quantum tunnelling, or wormholes, creating a direct path to destination. Usually, jumpgates have only 1 destination and said destination cannot be changed. The gate itself always possesses an outer structure to house the event horizon, usually in the shape of a circle or oval. Inside the event horizon, the gate dumps charged particles of aridium until it reaches critical mass and begins to self-disintegrate due to Aridiums gravitational properties, stripping itself of it's own electrons and protons. At this point, it forms a bridge between an extra-dimensional layer of anti-Aridium via unknown methods (under study, but so far remains a mystery, even though it is known how to create the part that does this function). The culmination of the two particles being charged creates a rift in space-time, which the gate then manipulates with incredibly powerful micro-gravity wells and folds space onto itself, pushing and stretching the rift into subspace itself (doing so in realspace would cause widespread catastrophe, or so it is theorised). At the same time, the destination gate receives information that a subspace path is being formed, and begins it's own connection attempt, meeting at some point in subspace to establish a full route. Upon a full connection, the jumpgate will detect any ships requesting passage, and shroud said ship in a charged EM field as it's pulled into the event horizon and shot through the wormhole. Without EM shrouding, ships would be ripped apart on the atomic level by anti-particles inside the wormhole - no known ship bourne shielding is strong enough to resist these effects, and all ships rely on the jumpgate for protection. Thankfully, the journey time is mere seconds, limiting the danger of field collapse. Jumpgate operation requires tremendous amounts of Aridium, and each federate species is taxed a certain amount of their mined aridium to maintain the central jumpgate network. It is known that jumpgates will only accept jump requests from ships within a 5000m radius of the gate itself - however, positioning doesn't matter, as the even horizon operates 3 dimensionally, meaning a ship may enter from any direction and achieve the same result. When Aridium reserves run low in a jumpgate, it ceases operation until enough is provided to establish a connection. Gates are capable of ferrying many ships at once - the largest known fleet to attempt a non-staggered jump was a fleet of 89 ships, all of which completed the journey. It is not known if there are upper limits, however, logic suggests only a certain amount of ships can be processed at once due to the limited size of the event horizon and the speed at which the gate can process jump requests. Jumpgates created by the Federate can be controlled to a high degree, even allowing them to refuse travel to identified criminals. Jumpgates not created by the Federate have never been controlled in such a way - only rudimentary refuelling has been accessed. Attempts to access older jumpgate computer cores has resulted in naught, and in two cases, the gates permanent offlining. As such, all attempts to tamper with older gates are forbidden, lest the gate shut off and strand a colony world. Sub-types Jumpgates come in several distinct forms. * InterStellar Gate - the smallest and most common, these gates bridge the gap between nearby stars. Some systems possess multiple of these types with connections to different stars, creating a vast connected web of gates that is still being explored to this day. * InterConstellation Gate - Larger and less populous, these gates are usually 3 times the size of ISG's, and can propel ships over much greater distances in a single jump, often linking various constellations. * InterRegional Gate - The largest jumpgate known to exist, the only examples of this type were built by the ancestors of the network. Up to 20 times the size of ISG's, these gates can link only to other IRG's, and usually connect over incredible distances, linking entire clusters together. These gates have never been deeply studied due to the risk of rendering them inoperable, as they are currently unable to be built by the Federate due to technological limitations. The only other extant type of gate is the Ira SuperGate, a megastructure located deep inside the void sea's. The gate is well over 50 times the size of regional gates, but has never been seen to operate. All attempts to supply fuel or issue commands has resulted in nothing - it seems as though the gate has been long dead. Production Production of a jumpgate is a vast undertaking and not done so lightly. With even small jumpgates costing a small fortune, only governments have, so far, built them for expansion and exploration efforts. Currently, the Ishtari have built 320 jumpgates, the Heru 54, Jiub 12, and humans 1. Any plan to build a jumpgate must go through the Federate council for approval and must meet certain requirements, and have a valid reason for it's construction.